Musk said Tesla will make "certainly moderate and maybe big advances" with its current sensors to improve Autopilot, which offers safety features like automatic braking, lane switching, and blind spot warnings.

Tesla wants to decouple the radar from its camera to make these improvements. Its radar allows its cars to detect cars and other moving objects around it.

The announcement comes after Tesla received some negative attention for the first fatal crash while Autopilot was in use.

Someone spotted a Tesla Model S driving around Palo Alto with the LIDAR sensor on June 30. It was thought at the time the car could belong to Stanford because the Model S had a giant Stanford logo on the rear windshield and a Stanford license plate frame.

But a Stanford spokesperson told Tech Insider the car did not belong to the University. The Model S was also seen entering the parking lot behind Tesla's headquarters. Tesla did not respond to Tech Insider's request for comment at the time.

Still, Musk's comments show Tesla is staying away from using LiDAR for Autopilot.